Closure means for hermetically sealed jars



, Patented May 1, 1934 1,956,555

CLOSURE MEANS FOR HERMETICALLY SEALED JARS Randolph Barnard, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Vacuum Seal Company, Inc., New York, N. Y.) a corporation of New York Application August 27, 1932, Serial No. 630,681 I 2 Claims. (01.215-41) The present invention is an improvement in ordinary practice, and as shown, the mouth of jars of the type disclosed in Patent No. 1,212,274, the jar is circular in outline and the outer surgranted January 16, 1917, in which a packing face 'of the cap portion 9 and the jar surfaces ring of rubber or analogous material is com- 3 and 5 are approximately cylindrical, while the 5 pressed between specially shaped surfaces of the surface 4 is conical. While the outer surface of 6 jar body and its cap or closure member, and prethe cap portion 9 and the surface 3 may each be vents air leakage through the joint between said truly vertical, in ordinary practice the outer surmember and jar into the air exhausted interior face of the cap 9' is inclined downwardly and inof the jar. wardly at an angle of a couple of degrees or so to 10 The present invention is characterized by a the vertical to facilitate the lid formation in a packing ring engaging surface on the jar body glass molding machine and this taper is also which is additional to those disclosed in said prior beneficial in its resulting wedging action on the patent, and which is so shaped and disposed as seal ring. Similarly, to facilitate the manufacto attain objects and secure advantages of subture of the jar, the surface 3 is ordinarily instantial practical importance, as will be recogclined upwardly and away from the vertical at nized by those skilled in the art from the accoman angle of a couple of degrees or so. panying drawing and descriptive matter in which The sealing ring 10 is formed of. pure rubber I have illustrated and described a preferred emor analogous material, and, when in its initial bodiment of the present invention. uncompressed condition, is ordinarily of rectan- Of the drawing: gular cross section as shown in Fig. 3. The ring Fig. 1 is a vertical central section of an all 10 surrounds, and is of an internal diameter to glass preserving jar or vessel with its closure fit snugly over the portion 9 of the cap 7, and parts in place as when sealed; is of an exterior diameter permitting its easy en- Fig. 2 is a plan view of the jar shown in Fi 1; trance within the surface 3'forming the wall of Fig. 3 is a section of the gasket or sealing the enlarged outer portion of the jar mouth.

ring in its initial condition; and In the sealed condition of the jar with the air Fig. 4 is an enlarged scale reproduction of a exhausted from the interior of the latter, the atportion of Fig. 1. mospheric pressure acting on their outer surfaces In the embodiment of the present invention ilforces the jar body and cap 7 together so that h lustrated'in the drawing, the seal ring engaging the sealing ring 10 is compressed and distorted surface of the jar 1 comprises a jar end portion into the general form sh wn b in h n ar 2 at the margin of and surrounding the jar Section 4. As shown in Fig. 4, the pressure to mouth, and portions 3, 4, 5 and 6 successively which it is Subjeted radially expands the Outer more remote from the end of the jar. portion .of the ring so that a flange-like portion 4 When the jar is in its upright position in which of the ring is Compressed b w t e jar end 11 it is normally filled and sealed, the surface 2 is face 2 and the cap rim portion While an inner horizontal or approximately so, the surfaces 3 ed p io f th ring i d d'in o h upand 6 are vertical, or approximately so, the sur- P P01191011 0f the Space between the D portion face 4 is inclined to the vertical at an angle of 9 and the jar surface 6. In the normal sealed 40 degrees, or so, andthe surface 5 i inclined condition shown inFig. 4, the major intermediate at a substantially greater angle to the vertical p rti n f t ri s compressed into snu c nand in practice may well be horizontal or aptact with, and entirely fills the space between the proximately so. jar surface portions 3 and 4 and the cap portion 9.

The jar cap or closure 7, which, like the jar AS Shown, the rim Portion 8 0f the p is 5 body 1, is usually formed of glass, comprises a formed with a notch to permit the insertion of rim or circumferential flange portion 8 surroundan implement for displacing the packing ring 10 mg a body portion 9, and is so shaped and prosufliciently to break the vacuum within the jar l portioned that when the cap is in its normal jar when the latter is to be opened. P closing position, the flange 8 overlies the'end sur- The surface 5 added, in accordance with the 50 face of the jar, while the body portion 9 extends present invention, to the jar shown in said prior into the mouth of the jar far enough to overlap Patent No. 1,212,274, increases the effectiveness of r r the jar surface portion somewhat. The outer the jar closure and minimizes its liability to' failsurface of the body portion 9 is then vertical or ure under certain adverse conditions, and perapproximately so. and the under surface of the mits the surface 4 to be inclined to the vertical 55 flange 8 is horizontal or approximately so. In at a. smaller angle than would otherwise be required, and thereby facilitates and reduces the cost ofJnanufacture of the jar body.

The addition of the surface 5 directly adds to the effectiveness of the closure seal by increasing the tortuosity of the path along which leakage, if any, between the jar surfaces and the sealing ring 10 can occur. The surface 5 and the subjacent surface 6 unite to form a corner 11, which engages or bites into the seal ring material extruded inwardly past the surface 5, and which more effectively restrains the latter against any tendency to outward movement than does the more obtuse corner formed with the construction of said prior patent, at the intersection of the jar surfaces thereof which correspond generally to the surfaces designated 4 and 6 herein. The seal ring retaining efiect of the corner 11 is especially useful under such adverse conditions as prevail, for example, when sealed jars are transported for long distances in railroad cars, and are thereby subjected for relatively long periods to rapidly repeated shock or vibration stresses.

The improved ring retaining action of the relatively sharp corner formed at the intersection of the surfaces 5 and 6 of the present construction is of especial importance because it makes it practically possible to decrease the angle of inclination to the vertical of the surface 4. In practice,

the said angle in jars constructed in accordance with the present invention, is normally made with a permissible departure tolerance of 5 in each direction. With the construction shown in said prior patent, it has been found necessary in commercial practice to make the corresponding angle with a similar permissible tolerance of departure of 5. In the practical manufacture of jar bodies in automatic glass molding machines, the decrease in said angle to the vertical from a normal value of 45 to a normal value of 40, materially facilitates the production of jars in which the main wedge sealing surface, designated 4 herein, is sufliciently free from crizzles, checks, or cracks tending to cause leakage, and reduces the number of jars which cannot pass inspection and must be discarded because of such defects.

While'I have herein shown a preferred em bodiment of my invention by way of illustration and example thereof, it is evident that some changes may be made therein without departure from the spirit of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having now described my invention,'what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described comprising a vessel having an opening bounded by an outer substantially vertical surface and an adjoining inwardly inclined tapering surface, a cover having an overhanging flange and an underlying substantially vertical surface, and a packing ring engaging said surfaces and flange and compressed between the cover and vessel into an outer portion of wedge-shaped section extending between said inwardly tapering surface and said substantially' vertical cover portion, and an inner portion extending along said cover surface at the inner side of said inclined surface, the improvement which consists in an inwardly extending vessel surface at the inner side of said inclined surface and inclined to the vertical at a substantially greater angle than said tapered surface and terminating in a corner edge surrounding and spaced away from thesaid cover surface.

2. In a device of the character described, a vessel having an opening bounded by an outer substantially vertically extending surface, an adjoining inwardlyinclined tapering surface, a substantially horizontal surface intersecting said inclined surface at the inner edge of the latter, and an inner substantally vertical surface which at its outer edge intersects said transverse surface to form a corner, a. cover having an overhanging flange and an underlying substantially vertical surface the inner portion of which extends alongside of and is spaced away from said inner sub stantially vertical surface of the vessel and a packing ring engaging said surfaces and flange and having its outer portion compressed to a wedge-shaped section by contact with said inwardly tapering surface and having an inner portion compressed into and filling the outer portion of the space between the portion of said cover at the inner side of said comer and the adjacent portion of the vessel.

LPH H. BARNARD. 

